"This edition of a hugely successful overview of the scientific and clinical aspects of chemotherapy, biotherapy, and immunotherapy reflects the great changes in the field in recent years. The book also includes a discussion of hormone antagonists used for the two most common hormone-dependent cancers, breast and prostate.
The main purpose is to provide the latest information in this area, especially with regards to the basic principles and mechanisms of various commonly used therapeutic approaches in medical oncology. While there are other books on the subject, the main idea here is to provide a comprehensive view of the multiple treatment approaches.
The book is intended primarily for medical oncologists and trainees including students, residents and fellows interested in medical oncology. The book may also be well suited for scientists as well as advanced graduate students working on cancer treatment.
The 34 chapters are conveniently organized into five broad sections. The first section, by far the biggest, covers the basic principles of cancer treatment in the first 18 chapters. Chapters 1-6 each cover the basic aspects such as the role of drugs in cancer treatment, target identification, drug development and regulatory approval, PK/PD, and pharmacogenomics. Following these basic chapters, which kind of serve as a preamble, each of the remaining chapters in this section is devoted to the various commonly used anticancer drugs. Each of the chapters in section II on targeted therapies describes agents used such as proteasome inhibitors, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, MAP kinase inhibitors, CDK inhibitors, and other commonly used including anti-angiogenesis inhibitors.
Sections III and IV deal with hormone antagonists and immune-based therapies, respectively. The latter focuses on monoclonal antibody, cytokine, and adaptive cell therapy for cancer. Finally, section V, on aspects of supportive care, covers antiemetics, hematopoietic growth factors, and coagulopathies. Written by leading experts in the field, the chapters are well thought out and well presented with sufficient tables and illustrations, and impressive bibliographies.
Overall, this is an informative and authoritative book that includes experiences from clinicians and scientists working at some of the most renowned cancer centers in the world. Although there are other books on similar subjects, such as The Basic Science of Oncology, 5th edition, Tannock et al. (McGraw Hill 2013), and Physicians' Cancer Chemotherapy Drug Manual 2019, Chu and DeVita (Jones & Bartlett, 2019), this book stands out as unique."
Weighted Numerical Score: 100 - 5 Stars!